my meditation practice
Question:
Hi everyone, TJ asked me to share with you about the meditation I have been practicing — it’s virtually eliminated my anxiety. I can’t guarantee it will work exactly the same way for everyone, but you won’t know until you try. As many of you know, Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) has as one of its major roots a form of meditation called "mindfulness", which comes primarily from Buddhist practice. CBT has been very successful in treatment of depression and anxiety. There is a huge variety of meditation instructions available on the web, and if you are interested in exploring meditation, I suggest you start trying as many sources as you can find until you find something that just feels right. This is one good place to start: http://www.buddhanet.net/audio-meditation.htm I would recommend two of their .mp3 downloads for beginners in this type of meditation: Scroll down to the list of files under the name "Malcolm Huxter": –Cultivating Peace and Joy with the Breath –Mindfulness of Breath These are similar with somewhat different emphasis. I’d suggest starting with "Mindfulness of Breath" first. Just my opinion. A resource that I’ve found invaluable for learning both meditation practice and Buddhist teachings is a podcast available at http://audiodharma.org/talks-guidedmeditation.html There are other podcasts available, as well. If you want to look for other non-religious and non-mystical Buddhist meditation information online, I would suggest using these words as search terms: Samatha (or Shamatha) meditation Theravada Vipassana Insight Meditation If you’re interested in a more religious or mystical experience, look for: Zen Tibetan Buddhism Mahayana tradition Some tips and info specific to meditation: 1. Once you find a guided meditation you’re comfortable with, use it once or twice a day, every day, until you feel you know it well enough. Then continue to practice without the recorded guided meditation. 2. Your mind will wander; thoughts and distractions will arise. This is normal. You don’t want to try to stop your mind altogether — that would be impossible. Just acknowledge the distraction, and gently bring your attention back to the breath. Do it every time. Don’t fight with yourself — keep a sense of humor about it. 3. Some people respond to this form of meditation right away; others may not feel much different until they’ve had daily practice for weeks, months or years. Be patient with yourself. And don’t stop meditating when you start feeling better. Keep doing it. Make it a part of your life. 4. There’s nothing magical about using your breath as the object of mindfulness in meditation. The reason the breath is a good object is that it’s always with you — it’s portable. 5. You don’t have to sit in a tortured position to do this. If you want to sit in the full lotus position, you’re either a masochist or you’re already a Buddha and don’t need this instruction. 
The key aspects to the right posture are: –a straight back — not ramrod straight — just straight enough to keep your chest, belly, and neck unconstricted to enable easy breathing; — balance — your head not tilting in any direction, and your body not leaning, and keep your legs and arms symmetrically placed; –relaxed muscles — at the start of your meditation, before focusing on the breath, do a body scan — consciously relax any areas of tension. 6. You might fall asleep. If you find you do that a lot, change the time of day you meditate to a time when you’re not tired. Many people prefer to meditate first thing in the morning. It’s good to wait at least 2 hours after eating so you don’t doze off. If you meditate with your eyes closed and you nod off, try meditating with your eyes open, or try walking meditation (there’s a download on that page for walking meditation). This is a simple and effective way of reducing mental and physical stress, of feeling more calm. I hope it’s useful for you. There is a wealth of information available online, in bookstores, and in libraries. I hope I have helped point you in a good starting direction. Peace to all, Deirdre — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
Response:
Hi everyone, TJ asked me to share with you about the meditation I have been practicing — it’s virtually eliminated my anxiety. I can’t guarantee it will work exactly the same way for everyone, but you won’t know until you try. As many of you know, Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) has as one of its major roots a form of meditation called "mindfulness", which comes primarily from Buddhist practice. CBT has been very successful in treatment of depression and anxiety. Peace to all, Deirdre
Thank you SO MUCH for posting this Deirdre You are a truly kind human being! I have been through CBT based programs twice now and the therapists have barely explained this stuff at all. Thankfully you have helped me to learn something at last! Be well, — _TJ_ <TJ_IREL at YAHOO dot IE — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm
